BICOM

The US yesterday officially asked the Palestinian Authority to abandon its bid at the UN later this month to recognise a Palestinian state on the 1967 border. The request was relayed to PA President Mahmoud Abbas by US Middle East envoy David Hale during a meeting in Ramallah, according to Palestinian officials.

Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Hale contended the Palestinian initiative in September would complicate matters and did not serve the two-state solution. Hale also told Abbas that Washington wants to see the Palestinians return to the negotiating table with Israel. Erekat quoted Hale as saying that the Quartet members – the US, EU, UN and Russia – were preparing a new statement that envisaged the establishment of a Palestinian state “on the basis of the 1967 borders,” without, in turn, recognising Israel as a Jewish state. During the meeting, however, Abbas said that the Palestinians would resume peace talks with Israel only if Jerusalem halted construction in the settlements and accepted the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports on legal concerns from an expert that says Israeli officials could be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague if a Palestinian state is recognised at the UN vote later this month. The claims against the Israeli officials would be over Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank. Prof. Robbie Sabel, a former legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry, said that the ICC works on a complementary jurisdiction that will not allow the court to intervene when the country is investigating the issue and prosecuting those responsible. “The settlements are a prime example of this, since in theory one could say that we are talking about a war crime, that Israel is not investigating it and not bringing those responsible to justice. Thus, the court could get involved and investigate,” Sabel said. There are concerns that if criminal cases are brought against Israel in the ICC a hostile environment will be created for peace talks, which would make Jerusalem less willing to negotiate.